ABSTRACT
A first and exemplary realization of communal ethics from the bottom up takes place in the rural district of Grafschaft Bentheim, which is a small district in the south-west part of Lower Saxony. Palliative care originates from the international hospice movement, whose implementation in German-speaking countries began with a slight delay, arriving behind their English and American counterparts in 1980s. Hospices offers hospitality without an ulterior motive, they provide unconditional interest in others and for the sake of others in their own right. This chapter talks about standard model of ethics in healthcare organizations. Central to the standard model is the establishment of a healthcare ethics committee within an organization. The main function of the ethics committee, besides the education of staff and development of policies and guidelines, is to offer clinical ethics consultation. Care ethics reminds that through many phases of life we are anything other than reasonable, autonomous or independent individuals: in childhood, old age, sickness and weakness.
